


home is where the heart is

by t_fic (topaz), topaz, topaz119 (topaz)



Category: Hawkeye (Comics), Marvel (Comics), Young Avengers
Genre: Community: picfor1000, Gen, Home, Male-Female Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-28
Updated: 2015-02-28
Packaged: 2018-03-15 16:16:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3453707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/topaz/pseuds/t_fic, https://archiveofourown.org/users/topaz/pseuds/topaz, https://archiveofourown.org/users/topaz/pseuds/topaz119
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clint knows everybody else has moved on, but he hasn't, not yet, and he's pretty goddamn sure nobody should be surprised by that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	home is where the heart is

**Author's Note:**

> For the [A Picture is Worth 1000 Words]() Annual Challenge, Round Thirteen: Unlucky You. My prompt is [here](https://www.flickr.com/photos/markusschoepke/123223875).
> 
> Spoilers through _Hawkeye_ 21, logical guesses (and lalalala, DENIAL) for 22.

"Hawkeye."

Clint drags his eyes open to see a familiar pair of purple Chucks right in front of his face. He rolls over, the shitty, half-deflated air mattress wheezing under him, and answers, "Hawkeye."

Kate sighs, and looks around, her gaze taking in not just the torn-up apartment, but also somehow managing to comment on the battleground Clint knows she crossed to get inside. Clint throws an arm up over his face, but even his not-really-recovered hearing doesn't miss her short, sharp, " _Enough_."

"'s not so bad, Katie," he offers. "The water's still on."

"The electricity isn't," she snaps. "Neither is the heat." Lucky whines, picking up on her irritation. Clint reaches out to rub behind the dumb mutt's ears, only to run into Kate's hand as she does the same. Lucky whuffles contentedly, and it's just Clint's life that his dog is who's keeping him out of fights.

"There a reason for this visit other than to bitch me out about my utilities?"

"Yeah," Kate mumbles. "Just… come with me?"

She's uncertain enough that there's no way Clint's gonna refuse, but she'll get her back up if he even hints that he's noticed, so he answers, "Do I gotta shower?"

"Ohmygod, _yes_. Also? Ew."

"Gimme ten minutes, girlie." Clint rolls to his feet, smiling at her glare, because hey, mission accomplished. 

These days, Clint takes his wins where he can.

\- - -

"So," Kate asks, chewing on her bottom lip. "What do you think?"

"I think it's a half-done remodel of an old firehouse." 

"Engine Company Thirteen," Kate says earnestly, and fuck, Clint sometimes forgets how young she really is. "It's for sale."

"Yeah, I kinda noticed, what with the broker and—wait, you're not expecting _me_ to buy it, are you?"

"You mean that duffel full of cash won't cover the asking price?" Kate blinks innocently at him, and hell, Clint knows she sometimes has that rich-girl thing where she has no idea about normal money, but he'd thought she'd been getting over that since her son-of-a-bitch father yanked her plastic. 

"Oh, please." Kate rolls her eyes at him. "No, I do not expect—"

"Then why am I here, Katie?" He's being a jerk, yeah, he's aware, but he's really not in the fucking mood for guessing games.

"Instead of back in BedStuy waiting for the roof to fall in on you?" Kate gives him her best Black Widow _You-are-not-impressing-me-at all_ glare. (It's pretty good.) Clint scrubs his hand over the back of his head. He's tired and worn down, and yeah, he knows everybody else has moved on, but he hasn't, not yet, and he's pretty goddamn sure nobody should be surprised by that. "Look," Kate says, "this place, it's been for sale for a long time. They're about to take it off the market and try again later." 

"Not trying to be an ass, but why do I care?"

"Because they don't want it empty, but they don't want to get into the rental market." This time, Kate's expression is uncomfortably close to Bobbi's _hello-is-anybody-home?_ It probably wasn't the smartest idea to introduce all the women in his life to each other, but it's way too fucking late to do anything about it now. "You need some place that's not condemned; they need this place occupied."

"And they're just going to rent to me." Clint gestures to himself, the torn up jeans and the bruises and the bandages that migrate around his body but never really leave.

"Hello, Avenger?" 

"Katie—" Clint sighs.

"Yeah, no, I know you don't ever say that, but it's true." She waves a hand at the stripped-down, bare brick walls and polished concrete floors. "This place—it's livable. Period. It's not rentable, not without money they don't want to spend right now. But it's a hell of a lot better than where you're at now. Just… talk to them, okay?"

Kate almost never asks him for anything (of course, when she does, it's never anything easy), but it's probably (way past) time to deal with life. Clint grits his teeth and straightens his shoulders and goes to talk to the broker.

He still gives Kate the finger behind his back, though, and ignores her snort of laughter.

\- - -

Lucky comes in all suspicious and doubting, but then ends up racing from room to room to room, nails scrabbling on the slick floors. He slurps water out of Clint's cupped palms and then flops down, panting, in the sun. 

Clint shoves the money duffel into a closet, leans his bows and quivers against the wall. "Home sweet home." It comes out way less sarcastic than he'd intended.

"And hey, look, no bullet holes." Kate slings the garbage bag full of Clint's clothes into a corner. "You're welcome."

"Kate." Clint waits until she stops wandering around and turns to look at him, so she know he means this. "Thank you." 

She smiles at him, losing a little of the tension in her eyes. Clint's brain tells him it's ~~maybe~~ ~~probably~~ definitely his turn to take care of things.

"You still crashing with Billy and Teddy?"

"Couch-surfing queen, that's me."

"There's a ton of space here."

"You don't have—"

"I want to." Clint watches carefully, and yeah, it's way past time to be keeping an eye on things. "Even when Barney's done with the hospital and rehab, there'll be space."

"I'm fine—"

"Yep, you are." 'Fine' doesn't even begin to cover what she deserves, but that's not a conversation they can have right now. Clint adds, "This is pretty basic, but like you said, no bullet holes. No lovebirds either."

Kate shrugs, which is at least a start, and honestly a better one than Clint'd expected. 

"Think about it, Hawkeye." Clint tosses her the spare set of keys. "No expiration date."

"Sure, Hawkeye." Kate's already halfway out the door. She hesitates, though, adding, "Thanks, Clint," and then she's gone. 

It's quiet again, but Clint's sure she'll be back, and that's more than he's had in a long time.

**Author's Note:**

> Every time I do this challenge, I always end up with these complicated plots and only 1000 words to tell them in. Believe it or not, this was the simpler idea, at least until I over-wrote my entire file on Thursday. /o\ Fortunately, Kate and Clint don't really talk much. 
> 
> I'm also on [tumblr](http://topaz119.tumblr.com/), where I am either waiting impatiently for preview scans of Hawkeye 22 or hiding my eyes and not wanting to think about how _Rio Bravo_ actually ended. I fill in the rest of the time with pretty pictures.


End file.
